Academic Concerns: Why Bother?

By Elizabeth Bleicher, March 21, 2024

Submitting academic concerns does more than activate student outreach.

The Center for Student Success (CSS) asks you to please continue to share concerns with students directly, and use the Academic Concerns system to help students get back on track or make an informed decision before the deadline to withdraw from classes or take a personal leave (April 5, 2024).

Some submitters have expressed frustration that a concern is concluded in the system, but remains active in the classroom. While we offer students assistance such as tutoring, success coaching and referrals to other supports, CSS cannot compel any student to accept campus services or maintain contact with us.

That said, even if the concern is not resolved to your (or our!) satisfaction, each submitted concern:

  • contributes to the Student Success Dashboard, which provides faculty advisors, CSS and campus partners with a more complete picture of what has or hasn’t worked for the student in the past;
  • informs future plans; and 
  • provides insight when families ask what IC has done to help their student be successful.

As educators, we know self-advocacy, effort and consequences are all critical components of student development and maturity. Engaging students in the Academic Concerns system helps us cultivate growth in our students.

The Academic Concerns system offers two forms of outreach:

Nudges – Student receives an email from CSS with specific IC resources and strategies and offers (not requires) an appointment with a success coach. A nudge communicates that you see them, care, and want them to know how to get help. This closed concern becomes part of the success dashboard record.

Interventions - Student receives texts and emails from their deans’ office indicating your concern and requiring them to meet. If they do not respond to deans, they receive multimodal outreach from CSS until they meet with a professional success coach. The submitter will be asked for an update, but can share new information at any time through the “View Concern History and Send Updates” button in the Academic Concerns system. Once the student has met and made a recovery plan, the concluded concern becomes part of the student’s success dashboard record.

Click here to access the Academic Concerns system, and thank you for all you do to help our students learn in and out of the classroom.